The Sun Lied
by Quasar-Hunter
Summary: Zie writes letters to a dead woman. Horrace tells lies to protect a fragile heart. Michael takes control of chaos and hopes nobody will see him slip up. Gabriel looks for chinks in Michael's armor. Maxy beats everyone else when she just wants to beat herself. Georgia wants a man too old for her. Penelope just wants the chaos to cease. Almost everyone else wants the easy way out.
1. 001

**Rated T for Minor Coarse Language, Violence, Sensuality, and Carnage**

* * *

_Dear Mommy,_

_ Today, the last teacher died. We buried her next to the janitor under what used to be the rose bushes. She was a nice lady. I think we'll miss her. _

_ All we have left now are the school nurse and the grounds keeper. We don't see much of him, though. He's generally on border patrol to make sure the walkers don't find their way through the fence. I used to hate that fence when I first came here. It felt like you'd sent me to some kind of cage. But now, that cage is the only thing keeping me and Horrace safe._

_ Horrace says you're not answering because you don't have Wi-Fi. Apparently a lot of things like that are down, especially since it seems like a lot of the world is gone. I've been checking the online sites with what little signal we can get and almost everything is down. Tumblr still works, but most people on there are freaking out and then they go silent. It's kind of scaring me. I've already lost about six of my friends on there. One of them was saying good bye after she was bit. I almost cried._

_ We only have about thirty kids left of the two hundred at the school. The sickness took them fast and we lose another to the disease every few days. Those who are sick or get bit have been quarantined in the headmaster's house. We have to keep it chained and guarded. Michael has decided that he and some of the older kids should be in charge of preventing them from coming back. We only have a few left in there, so Michael and Georgia should be able to move in shortly._

_ Georgia has put me on dinner service this time. Michael might be the leader, but it's Georgia who holds us together. I don't know what I'd do without her. She's my bunk buddy. Looks out for us younger girls. Although… I really am the youngest, Mommy. They call me the baby of the group. But, I think I've told you this before. It's been so long since I started writing that I don't even remember anymore. _

_ Two months, Mommy. Two whole months. Why haven't you responded? I miss you so much. Please, please, please come find us. We need you. All of us need you. Don't give up on us. Or on me, Mommy. Please come soon._

_ Love,_

_ Mackenzie_


	2. 002

"I'll check in with Kaeden and see if we need to delegate some workers to fence repair and see if we'll need to get more supplies. We'll be making another supplies run on Friday, so we should approve some items. Anybody have any suggestions?" Michael said. "Do we need anything badly?"

"Basic hygienic supplies," Georgia said. "We're running out of toilet paper and laundry detergent."

Gabriel wrinkled his nose. "Why are we even bothering with—"

"We'll see if we can get some," Michael replied, his firm voice cutting over his younger brother. "Anything else?"

"I've been doing some research on where we can get some more food," David said. "There's a large Mormon community in the town nearby. They should have a decent stock of food in their houses. I think there's also a Costco nearby. We should check it out."

"Can do." Michael quickly jotted the note down on a piece of paper. "Can someone go out to the boards and grab the notices?"

David nodded and dashed out the doors before returning with a handful of paper scraps and two clipboards. "We've got a few things."

"Comments and complaints can wait," Georgia said. "Let's get the supply requests and maintenance issues fixed first. What's—"

"More requests for new clothes. We'll bring a few boxes and just throw in whatever we can find. More water bottles. Ice cream… I'll see what we can do. We might just have to settle for pudding again. Girl stuff. Detergent. Robots to do chores." He chuckled. "We'll see about that one."

"All right," Michael said. "I'm fine with all of that. Just use your head. If it's not possible or easy to get, don't bother."

"Not much in the way of maintenance." David scratched the back of his neck. "Second floor boy's bathroom has a broken toilet, but that should be a quick fix. I'll let Kaeden know."

"Onward, then. We have… two requests, three complaints and two comments. Which first?"

Gabriel shrugged. "Let's hear the complaints first, then comments, then requests."

"Person number one says that they don't like how they don't get to choose their own chores."

"Suck it up," Maxine said. "Next?"

"Second one says that the food isn't to their taste."

"Jeeze. SIU, _again_."

"Last one says that they feel like they're being picked on by a person in leadership. They didn't say by whom."

"Ignore."

"Can you write out the responses, Maxy?" Michael asked.

She nodded curtly.

"Onward," Michael said.

"Comments about how the internet signal is quickly getting worse. We figured it would, and we should just respond with an explanation."

Horrace looked up. "Is it signed?"

"Yes." David nodded. "It's from Zie."

Quickly paling, Horrace placed his hand against his forehead. "Of course. She's the only one who's still trying."

"Does she still write to your parents?" Georgia asked. "Is she doing any better?"

"Yeah. I guess so. She's not writing as many anymore. Maybe once a day and only to Mom at this point."

Maxine nodded grimly. "I think you did the right thing by not telling her. She'd be better off not knowing."

"Here's the thing, though," Horrace said, clasping his hands together. "Dad is definitely dead. Mom said she brained him herself. But I haven't heard from Mom since the last phone call where she was shouting. I could barely make out what she said. She _could_ still be alive and working on the cure."

Gabriel shook his head. "The time for cures is over. Practically the entire world is dead and gone. We're part of the probably one million-ish that made it."

"Let's not dwell on that now," Michael snapped, glaring at his younger brother.

Gabriel rolled his eyes and huffed before crossing his arms and sitting back in his chair.


	3. 003

Georgia sighed and tossed the remaining papers left over from their meeting. "Wasteful," she murmured under her breath, but there was nothing else to be done with them. Besides, nobody here would agree to use already-used paper for projects.

"What's that?" Maxy asked, picking up the comments, complaints and requests.

"Just that it's such a waste to throw away good paper."

Maxy shrugged. "I'll use it for the responses, if you'd like. I don't mind."

"You don't?" Georgia asked. "Thanks so much. It's just one last thing David has to make a run for."

"That's his job, though. I'm sure he doesn't mind."

"I know, I know. It's just… it could be one extra item to get that gets someone killed."

"Yeah," Maxy said with a sigh. "I know. It's more luck than skill when it comes to dealing with walkers. Let's hope David's luck doesn't run out anytime soon."

Michael poked his head into the conference room. "Hey, Georgia?"

"Yeah?"

"Would you mind running out the maintenance request and get the updates from Kaeden for me? I've got to go deal with a disciplinary issue."

Georgia's stomach jumped. "Sure. I don't mind. What's up?"

"More fighting in the boy's dorm. Fight's over now, but we've got to make sure this stops happening. We're wasting good medical supplies on those bozos."

"I'll head over there now." She nicked the papers out of the waste basket and slid them to Maxy. "Here you are, gorgeous. I'll catch you later."

Maxy arched her eyebrows suggestively at Georgia, and when Georgia's eyebrows came together in confusion and she cocked her head to the side, she responded with a laugh and waved the older girl off before turning to her work.

Georgia turned away with a grin and a shake of her head. _That girl, I swear._

She grabbed her thick, navy blue sweatshirt on the way out and slipped into it as she walked through the main hallway. Imagines of what it was like in years past fluttered through her thoughts, making her surroundings seem bleaker than they really were.

Although, those blood stains were really not adding to a positive ambiance.

They'd considered repainting the walls—at least where the stains were—to brighten up the place; a lack of time and resources had quickly squashed that request and so she had to look at light yellow walls that were sploshed with red-brown specks, spots and spatters.

The gravel walkway under her feet crunched like a bowl of cereal as Georgia made her way to the maintenance barn—a large, tin building a ten minute walk away from the main offices and dorms. The sky above her was a clear, sky blue. Some things just didn't change, even if the inhabitants of the world did. Life as she knew it might be over, but the world kept turning, seasons kept changing, the sun kept shining.

_That's probably the strangest part about an apocalypse. The world has ended but keeps on turning. _

There weren't as many birds as there were before. Either they'd died or just stopped singing. Part of her was glad (_won't attract any walkers_) but another part of her—the idealist who thought this was just a temporary thing—missed them. Especially the mockingbirds.

The two-story double doors to the barn were wide open. Kaeden sat at his work-bench, looking over a large map of the campus grounds. Spots on the fence were marked in red, some crossed out and others just left alone.

"Hey, Kaeden," Georgia said. "Here for some updates."

He glanced up at her, those insanely light green eyes making her melt into her boots. "Sure."

"Maintenance in the dorms, the second-floor boy's bathroom has a toilet that's out of order."

Kaeden rolled his eyes. "Y'all need to learn how t' plunge your own toilets."

"I know, I know. I bet Michael could schedule some basic maintenance classes, but you know how appealing that would be for a bunch of kids who don't ever have to worry about stuff like this."

"Well, the world's changed. Money don't mean shit no more."

"That won't change a decade's worth of mentality."

"Then tell them that the day they're lazy is the day that'll kill us all. Because it will. Speaking of killing us all, those walkers might not be the strongest, but they've knocked a couple places a bit weak. I'd like to get a crew out here first thing in the morning."

"Where?"

"Left side of the Northern gate, like last time, and a couple places to the south. It's not urgent, but an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

Georgia nodded. "Right. I'll let Michael know."


	4. 004

Michael shook his head as he left the Orderly's hall. The two who kept fighting—Phillip and Peter—were going to give him a migraine and he didn't want to have to use their already limited supply of ibuprofen.

_Fake._

He brushed the thought away as he walked past the posted guard. Michael nodded to her—Savannah?— and breezed through the double doors leading into the rest of the dormitories. It was mostly empty, as the crews were out doing chores. He heard the laughter of some of the females and reminded himself that it was a co-ed dorm now, and he was, _after all,_ the Headmaster of the school.

_You don't even know what you're doing. Why would they have voted for you?_

He shook his head, trying to shake the doubts that had plagued him since the beginning of "his reign," as Gabriel liked to call it. _That kid. He might be my brother, but he's a pain in the ass is what he is. He has his uses, though…_

A student population that had once taken up two buildings—one for each sex—was now reduced to a size that could fit the entire second floor of the boy's dormitory. They hadn't bothered using the girl's dormitory since the attack.

_The dead. Alive. Like something out of a bad horror movie, but much more realistic._

He couldn't believe that he was still alive. He felt like he was an empty shell.

_You are._

"Shut up," he muttered under his breath. "You can do this. Why else would they have voted for you?"

_A pretty face. That's all you are. Even mother said it._

"_Shut up!_" he shouted. He thanked God he was alone after he realized he'd spoken aloud.

With windswept, golden-blonde hair, sea-green eyes and well-placed and proportioned features—not to mention some molded musculature-, Michael was well aware of his appeal to the female faction of the group. Sometimes he used that to his advantage. Sometimes he didn't.

Like most things, his desire to be manipulative was largely dependent on his moods, which swung wildly in either direction.

_Keep it in. You're the boss of yourself and of the school. They need you._

He'd walked down the stairs and out onto the gravel paths outside the buildings. The foliage hadn't quite grown back from being trampled and he could still occasionally catch a whiff of something rotting—possibly an extra limb they'd forgotten about in the clean-up. Not now, though. Right now, it was a clear day, with a clear sky in which the sun shone brightly. Just a tad chilly, but not bitterly cold.

He thanked God that they didn't have to worry about having air conditioning at this point. Heating might be a different story, but… he tried to take things a week at a time. The group might not even last the day.

_Speaking of which, I need to get the fence report from Georgia as soon as she gets back._

Michael yanked at the glass double doors that led into the main building, housing the dining hall, the library, most of the classrooms and the main office.

Veering to the right, he walked back into the office and almost knocked Maxy over. Her mid-length light blonde hair swished through the air as she recoiled in surprise.

"Oh, Michael. Sorry about that."

"No. It's my fault. Should've looked where I was going."

She shrugged. "Okay, then. I finished up the responses and left them on your desk. You can pin them up if you decide I wasn't too abrasive."

He chuckled. "I'm sure they're fine. But, just to be sure, I'll take a look before posting."

"All right. I'm off to Orderly Hall. See you at dinner."

She let the door swing shut behind her as she headed off. Michael couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Girls like her made him nervous. He couldn't spout bull to get himself out of trouble, meaning he walked on eggshells. All the time. He always (well… more recently…) felt a little sick to his stomach and jumpy—probably the cause of the ulcer he was certain had decided to move into his stomach lining—but dealing with people he couldn't guarantee his way with just made things worse.

He sat down at his desk and glanced through the papers left there. Maxine had been blunt but not abrasive, in his "professional" opinion. Some things just required people to, in her terms, suck it up.

_SIU._

Grabbing the pieces of paper and a couple push-pins, he stepped out of his office and headed to the notice board in the main hall. Next to the various manila folders they had pinned up (Comments, Complaints, Requests, Schedules by Last Name…), he posted the original notes and their responses so that they overlapped.

Just as he finished, the front doors cracked open and Georgia slipped through.

He smiled as his skin prickled. He could practically feel the tides of hormones changing from calm to storming as he glanced at her tiny waist—tucked between a pair of curved, swaying hips and a chest that drew anyone's eyes.

_Like she'd want you, bozo. She's got the hots for that hick._

"Shut up," he murmured under his breath.

"What's that?" Georgia asked, a confused frown taking hold of her placid features.

"Nothing." Michael ran his fingers through his hair, wishing it was her hair instead. "Never mind. What's the scoop on the fence?"


	5. 005

Maxine—No! _Maxy_ walked through the double doors of Orderly Hall and took a rough seat next to Savannah.

"Hey, hon," Savannah said. "Your meeting go all right?"

"Mmhmm," she replied. "Just fine."

"Anything important come up?"

"You know I couldn't say one way or another. You'll find out if we have any announcements when we go to dinner."

Savannah shook her head. "I'd like to gig the guy who put that stupid gag order in place. Who was that anyways?"

"Gabriel and Penelope."

"She's so young. How do they know she knows what she's doing?"

"Because she accurately predicted a large portion of the events that occurred in the first weeks after the attack. What people would do. Who would die next. To be honest, it was kind of scary. Michael seems to think she's useful to us in the council, so she stays. Plus, she helps keep Gabriel under control."

"What does she see in that little shit?"

Maxy shrugged. "He's not so little. He's only a year or two younger than you."

"Yeah, and on the council before me."

"Council isn't so great. Besides, you didn't volunteer when you had the chance. I'm sure they would've found something for you to do."

Savannah sighed and shook her head. "Don't get me wrong, Maxy. I love my job. I wanted to go into law enforcement anyways. But… it feels like we have no say in anything. Y'all just decide what's going to happen and you expect us to jump. I don't know…"

"Hey," Maxy said, putting a hand on her friend's shoulder. "You should've said something sooner. We want to hear this kind of feedback. We don't want to be dictators or anything."

"Well, at least _you_ don't."

"Horrace probably doesn't want to be one either. Or Georgia."

"Gabriel, though…" Savannah trailed off. "He scares me. Nobody likes him, or even speaks to him except the people on the council."

"Why?" Maxy asked. "He's not so bad once you talk to him."

"I don't know. He just scares people. It feels like he's constantly watching us to see if we do anything wrong. He just turns up places. Like he's following trouble around."

_That's 'cause he's the council snitch. But we can't tell you that._

"He's just different. Give him a chance. How're the guys doing? Did we decide on anything?"

"Not yet."

Maxy shook her head. "I'd like to show them what's what, but that would be an even greater drain on our resources than before."

Savannah laughed. "I'm sure you would."

"Personally," Maxy continued, "I think we give them one more chance to behave and then it's out with the walkers they go. We can't afford two people who're a drain on our resources."

"But… Maxy, they'll die."

"Maybe they will, maybe they won't. Georgia and I were just talking about this. The more we use, the more the suppliers have to worry about when they make their runs. The more supplies have to grab, the longer they have to be outside the gates. The longer they're outside the gates, the more chance they have of dying. Better a couple of immature drains on our resources die than for some people who are actually of use to us."

"David and his team are pros. They can get out of anything."

Maxy shrugged. "Just my two cents."

"I knew you were harsh but…" Savanah snorted and shook her head. "Well, anyways, I'd better head to my next round of chores. Catch you around Maxine."

She shuttered at the use of her full first name. "Don't call me that," she bit out.


	6. 006

_This is Penelope Greene, female, aged 15 and survivor of the initial collapse of mankind. I have decided to begin recording my words on a weekly basis so that I may look back on them and not only see myself from an older person's perspective, but also have proof that I… how do they say it..? Called it?_

_ It has been exactly 62 days since the first walkers rose and attacked. There are not many of us left._

_ There are 32 remaining of our 205 student population. This does not include our new head of security or our school's nurse, who against all odds, has survived as long as she has because she is smart and useful. I guess not just anyone can get through nursing school._

_ 16 of our 32 are male, and the other 16 are female. It is convenient, no? Well, it will be for now. Until the next few decide to take their lives or are killed. I estimate we will lose our first to suicide in approximately six days. It will be a female. _

_David's next trip into town will not go well. With each visit to the same place—which I have advised them multiple times not to do—they will leave their scent, thus drawing more to the area. It will be enough to bring about the death of one of his underlings. No doubt Samuel. He has little experience in combat, despite his size and intellect._

_Although there is at least one suicide in the near future, our society has begun to stabilize. Relationships between workers and the others in their groups are growing strong. We must be sure to encourage intergroup contact to prevent any crop-ups of out-group bias. This could be one of the greatest dangers of splitting the groups into work forces._

_According to my calculations, based on the likelihood of events, we should be able to witness natural growth of the community starting in about three weeks. Gabriel and I are keeping close tabs on the growing relationships between opposite sexed couples in order to determine when to expect the first of the children to inevitably come. Based on my calculations—taking into account the most likely couples and their female's general health and resistance to stress to ensure a complete pregnancy—, we can expect the first infant in July or August of next year. We must plan accordingly._

Penelope looked up and glanced back at the door before turning back to her recorder.

_Most interesting to me is the relationship between Georgia and Kaeden. While both give very clear signs of physical desire and pheromonal attraction, neither makes a move on the other. Georgia does her best to get his attention, poor dear. But with an age gap of 10 years and the thoughts of our previous society drilled into our heads—such as the question of legality in having relations between a minor and an adult—I do not blame Kaeden for not making any further moves. Neither do I blame Georgia for having an attraction to Kaeden. He is older, wiser and significantly more likely to survive than the rest of the available males in our society. He is the obvious pick for a mate who could father children. It makes evolutionary sense._

_All the same, I do not foresee them entering into a relationship until after Georgia reaches her 18 birthday. _

_Recording one: complete._

Penelope stretched her arms back behind her and felt her shoulder muscles tugging at her spine. She felt like she was always hunched over paperwork or a computer screen or a calculator.

"I should get Gabriel to give me a massage later," she murmured to herself as she put the recorder back into its box and jammed the thing under a pile of her underwear inside her trunk. She closed the lid and latched it, the golden metal clicking loudly as it snapped together.

She glanced at the other bed next to hers. Maxine's. She had no opinion of the nineteen year old. She was capable, as long as she wasn't in the throes of self-loathing, which the girl didn't even recognize for herself.

Penelope shook her head. "Poor, unfortunate soul."


	7. 007

Horrace slumped against his hand, his elbow aching slightly as it pressed into the wooden table top. Zie sat next to him, giggling with friends between spoonfuls of jello.

It would've been like any other day. Could've been like any other day. Except for the blood stains that would never come out of the floors or the cracks in the windows or the utter emptiness of a dining hall meant for three hundred but only occupied by thirty.

At least he didn't have trouble finding a place to sit anymore.

"Do we have any announcements or concerns that haven't been addressed yet?" asked Michael. His teeth flashed into a grin that he knew would tighten the gut of any girl who saw him. Horrace smiled.

_Michael is perfect_, he said to himself. _A king, almost. He could be our king, for all we know._

The lack of raised hands or voices prompted Michael to nod, clasp his hands together and finish with a quick, "All right, guys. You know the rules. Inside by midnight. No one outside the doors once we switch the lights off. Comprende?"

"Yeah, yeah, Michael," Maxy said, waving him off. "We get ya'."

Michael laughed, but Horrace stiffened. He could hear the uneasiness lining Michael's voice. He knew their leader was far from being fearless.

For someone so handsome to have social anxiety...

The blonde haired teen stepped off his announcement table and retreated back to where his brother brooded, next to the dark-haired Penelope.

"Hey, Horrace? Did you guys see my message about the Wi-Fi signal?" Zie asked, tugging at his sleeve and his attention.

"Mhm. We did. Maxy wrote out a response. We're gonna try the best we can, but it's not going to stay up much longer. Or, at least, our connection beyond the fence."

"Oh," she said.

He reached forward and tucked some of her coppery brown hair behind her ear. "It'll be okay. Mom is a big girl. She can take care of herself. She probably doesn't have a way of connecting to the internet is all."

"But-"

"It's not something you should worry about. Mom is probably on her way right now. Okay?"

"...okay."

Less certain...

Zie's doubt had been growing exponentially. Horrace could feel her anger and resentment boiling under the surface. It was only a matter of time before the pressure built up and she exploded.

He ate his meal in silence as his sister carefully pretended he wasn't sticking to her like a burr on a border collie. Instead of occupying himself with conversation, he observed the tables around him.

The guards and maintenance crew all sat together-which made up basically all the available males. Cooks sat at the table closest to the kitchen, keeping their heads together and down. They didn't much like to be bothered.

Leadership was supposed to sit with their groups at dinner, but they seemed to all be congregating around Michael's table, which was soon flush with the cleaning crew girls who fluttered about like young butterflies.

Horrace was thankful Zie wasn't quite ready to be interested in those sorts of things yet. At least... he was pretty sure she wasn't.

"We're having a girls night, Horrace," Zie said before taking her last bite of blue jello. "Don't wait up."

"Loud and clear," he said with a mock salute. "Have fun."

She strolled away with her posse- the three other girls she worked with on the cleaning crew- and Horrace looked back to his scarcely touched food.

Shoveling dinner into his mouth as though it were gravel instead of food, he returned to watching the others from his empty table.

"Hey, Horrace," David said with a grin before sliding in across from him. The plate of jello in his tan hands glistened and wiggled as he set it down. "Over here all alone?"

"Zie was over here, but she wanted to spend some time with the other girls so she left me. Big brothers aren't cool until they bring home hot friends, you know?" He laughed, but his heart twinged just slightly.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," David said. "The guys and I were going to have a fun night before we head out tomorrow afternoon."

"And by fun night, you mean party?"

"Yup. Not enough to have hangovers, mind you. Don't want those before we do a supply run. Just enough to get relaxed. I think a few of the kitchen crew were going to join us."

"Mind if I join?" asked a deeper voice, its Southern twang riddled throughout. "I've been craving some Jack."

David laughed. "Sure! The more the merrier! And, to be frank, the less alcohol to go around, the better. Don't want the lads going crazy now."

"Sounds good," Horrace said while flashing a grin. "Count me in."

"All right!" David held out his fist for Horrace to bump. "Party!"


End file.
